Bed fabric.



J. J. MANGEL & H. J. WILLEMS.

BED FABRIC. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 9, 1914.

Patented June 16, 1914.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN J. MANG'EL AND HENRY J. WILLEMS, OF KENOSI-IA, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNORSTo THE SIMMONS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF KENOSI'IA, WISCONSIN, A GOBPO-RATION OF WISCONSIN.

BED FABRIC.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 16, 1914:.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN J. MANGEL and HENRY J. WrLLnMs, citizens ofthe United States, residing in the city of Kenosha, county of Kenosha,and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Bed Fabrics, of which the following is a full andcomplete descrip tion.

Our invention relates particularly to wire fabrics employed in beds andcouches, and refers more particularly to a link fabric which is adaptedto be connected to a supporting frame by coiled springs or otherresilient means.

Among the salient objects of the invention are to provide a constructionin which the links comprising the fabric are so arranged and adapted tobe connected to the supporting springs as to tension the fabric bothlongitudinally and transversely; to provide a wire bed-fabric which iscapable of being folded in either direction, and will at the same timebe sufficiently stiff, both longitudinally and transversely, properly tosupport the weight of a person occupying the bed or couch; to provide,in a bed fabric of the class described, means for connecting up thevarious chains of links forming the fabric which will enable the fabricto be assembled in an extremely rapid and secure manner, and in such away as to make it practically impossible for any of the links composingthe fabric to become accidentally displaced; to provide, in a fabric ofthe class described, a form of construction which will permit theapplication of any required degree of tension upon the varlous chainstrands forming the fabric; to provide a construction of bed fabric inwhich the spring tension applied to the longitudinal chain members,composing the fabric is transmitted to the cross links connecting thelongitudinal members in such a way asto impart lateral, as well aslongitudinal, stiffness, to the fabric; to provide, in a fabric of theclass described, an improved chain-link construction which will displaymarked superiority in its mechanical design and economy of manufacture,and to provide an 1mproved construction of the general characterreferred to.

Our invention consists in the matters hereinafter referred to, and moreparticularly described in connection with the accompanying drawings, inwhich- Figure 1 represents a preferred form of bed fabric constructed inaccordance with our invention, parts being broken away and shortened upin order to lessen the size of the drawing. Fig. 2 is a sectional viewtaken along the line 22 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a section taken alongthe line 33 in Fig. 1.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the stationary frame to whichthe bed fabric is adapted to be connected is composed of a pair oflateral head and foot members 1 and 2, which are braced and connectedtogether by two or more longitudinal strut bars 3, only one of which isshown in the drawings. The longitudinal chains are composed of a seriesof links 4, all of which are alike and formed of a length of wire ofsuitable crosssectional area, bent in the form shown. As shown in thedrawings, each link is provided with an enlarged eye-loop at one end,its two sides approach one another and meet at the other end of thelink, and are there bent to form a hook, which engages the eye of theadjacent link. The chains are preferably formed in suitable lengthsbefore being assembled together to form the bed fabric.

An important feature of our invention is the manner of arranging thelongitudinal chains in the fabric with the links alternately pointing indifferent directions, the advantages of which will hereinafter apoear.

1 As just described, the longitudinal chains are arranged to point indifferent directions alternately. The desired tension and spring effectis furnished by a series of helical springs 5, one of which is connectedto the hook of the link at the extremity of each of the longitudinalchains. Since the chains are arranged alternately in reverse directions,this arrangement brings the springs connected to adjacent chainsalternately to either end of the fabric. The helicals are hooked intoengagement with the cross members 1 and 2 in a self-evident manner. Thechains themselves are connected together by means of the cross links 6,each of which is a short length of wire having each end bent up to forma hook which engages the eyeloop in one of the links composing thelongitudinal chains, each cross-link connecting 2 by means of the eyesof diagonally-contiguous links in adjacent longitudinal chains of thefabric. It is evident that, owing to the peculiar method of arrangingthe longitudinal chains alternately in reverse directions across thefabric, the crosslinks 6 will be placed under tension owing to thelongitudinal pull of the helicals 5. The pull of the springs indifferent directions applied to the adjacent reversed chains of thefabric causes the cross-links to assume an oblique or angular positionwith reference to the longitudinal chains. It will be seen also that theends of the chains adapted to be anchored to one end of the frameproject beyond the ends of the alternate chains anchored to the otherend of the bed frame. This results in a construction which is laterallytensioned by means of the indirect action of the springs upon the crosslinks, as well as being tensioned longitudinally by the springsthemselves; but it does not introduce any difii culties in the way offolding the bed fabrics along one or more longitudinal lines, as isfrequently desirable in case of a folding bed orcouch. In order tomaintain the outermost chains at the sides in their proper positions andto furnish an anchor for the outermost cross links 7, we provide alongitudinal strap 8, which is suitably apertured for the cross links 7.The strap 8 is resiliently connected to the cross members 1 and pairs ofhelical springs 9, which allow the strap to yield slightly under thepull of the cross links 7 In its broader aspects, the invention is notlimited to the details of construction described except as specified inthe appended claims.

We claim as our invention- 1. A fabric composed of a series of linkchains arranged in substantial parallelism, each chain comprising aseries of links having at one end an eye and at the opposite end ahooked portion engaging the eye of the adjacent link whereby the linkspoint in the same direction, and a second series of chains alternatelydisposed between the chains of the first series and similarly formed buthaving their links extending in opposite direction to the links of thefirst chain, and cross links connected to said chains.

2. A fabric composed of a series of longitudinal link chains arranged insubstantial parallelism, each chain comprising a series of links havingat one end an eye and at the opposite end a hooked portion engaging theeye of the adjacent link whereby the links point in the same direction,and a second series of chains alternately disposed between the chains ofthe first series and similarly formed but having their links extendingin the opposite direction to the links of the first chain, and crosslinks connecting said chains, a plurality of the chains of each seriesprojecting beyond the adjacent ends of the other series.

3. A fabric composed of a series of link chains in substantialparallelism, each chain comprising a series of links having at one endan eye and at the opposite end a hooked portion engaging the eye of theadjacent link whereby the links point in the same (lirection, a secondseries of chains alternately disposed between the chains of the firstseries and similarly formed, but having their links extending in theopposite direction to the links of the first chain, and cross linksconnecting the eyes of diagonally-contiguous links of the adjacentchains .of the fabric.

4. A fabric composed of a series of link chains arranged in substantialparallelism, each chain comprising a series of links having at one endan eye and at the opposite end a hooked portion engaging the eye of theadjacent link whereby the links point in the same direction, a secondseries of chains alternately disposed between the chains of the firstseries and similarly formed but having their links extending in oppositedirection to the links of the first chain, and cross links connected todiagonally-contiguous links of said chains, a plurality of the chains ofeach series project ing beyond the cross links and adjacent ends of thechains of the other series.

5. A fabric composed of a series of longitudinal link chains arranged insubstantial parallelism, each chain comprising a series of links havingat one end an eye and at the opposite end a hooked portion engaging theeye of the adjacent link, whereby the links point in the same direction,a second series of chains alternately disposed between the chains of thefirst series and similarly formed, but having their links extending inthe opposite direction to the links of the first. chain, the ends of thechains in one series being adapted to receive tension in one direction,and the opposed ends of the chains of the other series being similarlyadapted to receive tension in an opposed direction, and cross linksengaging the eyes of diagonally-contiguous links in the adjacent chains.

6. A fabric composed of a series of chains, each comprising a pluralityof flexibly connected links formed to point in the same direction, asecond series of chains alternately disposed between the chains of thefirst series and similarly formed, but having their links pointing inthe opposite direction to the links of the first chains, and obliquecross links engaging the eyes of the diagonally-contiguous links ofadjacent chains for maintaining the said chains in position against theapplication of tension to the 0pposite ends of the chains in eachseries.

7. In a flexible metallic fabric, the combination with a series of linkchains arranged in substantial parallelism, of a second series of linkchains alternately disposed between the chains of the first series,similar ends of the chains in one series being arranged to receivelongitudinal tension, and opposite similar ends of the chains in theother series being arranged to receive tension in the other direction,and cross links connecting the adjacent chains and arranged to transmitsaid longitudinal pull between the adjacent chains.

8. A bed fabric composed of a transverse roW of longitudinal chainscomposed of a series of links, each link formed of a length of Wireshaped to provide a hook at one end and an eye at the other end, eachchain having its links arranged so that similar ends of said links pointin a similar direction, the adjacent hooks and eyes being in engagement,the several chains of the row being alternately reversed longitudinallyto cause the links of adjacent chains to point in difit'erentdirections, and cross links having extremities engaging the eyes of theadjacent longitudinal chain links and connecting said chains together.

9. A bed fabric composed of a series of link chains arranged insubstantial parallelism, the diagonally-contiguous links of adjacentchains of the series having eyes at their adjacent ends, and cross-linksengaging said eyes.

10. In a bed fabric, the combination of a series of longitudinal chainsarranged in substantial parallelism, alternate chains of the seriesbeing adapted normally to be placed under spring tension applied to theopposed ends of said alternate chains, and cross-members connecting theadjacent chains and adapted to transmit said spring tension.

JOHN J. MANGEL. HENRY J. WILLEMS. Witnesses:

JOHN BURNS, EDW. FLUG.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

